Users; Groups - Sun Microsystems GlassFish Enterprise Server 2.1 Administration Manual

Understanding Users, Groups, Roles, and Realms
Users and groups are designated for the entire Enterprise Server, whereas each
Note –
application defines its own roles. When the application is being packaged and deployed, the
application specifies mappings between users/groups and roles, as illustrated in the following
figure.
Role Mapping
FIGURE 9–1

Users

A user is an individual (or application program) identity that has been defined in the Enterprise
Server. A user can be associated with a group. The Enterprise Server authentication service can
govern users in multiple realms.

Groups

A Java EE group (or simply group) is a category of users classified by common traits, such as job
title or customer profile. For example, users of an e-commerce application might belong to the
customer group, but the big spenders would belong to the preferred group. Categorizing users
into groups makes it easier to control the access of large numbers of users.
Chapter 9 • Configuring Security 105